Piastri ready to battle Norris, but 'not at the sacrifice of the team'
F1 News
McLaren have firmly put themselves back in contention for a world championship. They may be 42 points behind Red Bull in the constructor's championship, but heading into the summer break, they were one of the teams to beat alongside Mercedes. Oscar Piastri is aware of what is on the line for McLaren and admits what Norris and himself have to do to achieve McLaren's goal.
Can McLaren's drivers challenge for the title?
"It's certainly our goal," Piastri admitted in an interview with Brobible; "We've closed the gap to Red Bull a lot since Miami and it would be silly not to aim for it."
Piastri and Norris have had a good relationship since the Australian joined the team at the start of 2023. However, they nearly came to blows during the Hungarian Grand Prix which saw Piastri take his maiden win. The Australian had led the majority of the race, with Norris running behind him. McLaren took the choice and the risk of pitting Norris first, which allowed him to undercut his younger teammate. Norris eventually gave the position back to Piastri late in the race after much debate over his team radio.
Piastri, who is managed by fellow Australian Mark Webber, has admitted that Norris and himself cannot let that affect McLaren's chances at a title. “I think we just have a very healthy culture in the team. I’m not naive. I know that when you fight for wins and championships as a driver, then you want to do everything you can, if possible."
“It would be naive of us and immature of us to really start focusing all our attention on each other because we’ve still got a lot of other competition out there,” Piastri concluded.
Despite McLaren sitting second in the standings, they will be looking over their shoulder more than forwards. Mercedes have won three of the last four races and Ferrari are also not far away.